Go First goes insolvent, 5,000+ employees unsure of future

Many pilots of Go First have reportedly started looking out for jobs elsewhere, what with the low-cost airline filing for voluntary insolvency and cancelling all flights from May 3 to May 5! It is not just the passengers who are in shock, but also the 5,000 plus employees working for the airline, including pilots and cabin crew. It is natural for the staff to be anxious as the management has not yet given them any clarifications about their future.

The pilots and crew have reportedly been concerned for a while now about the financial health of the airline, since their salaries were repeatedly delayed. Some pilots claim that they were anyway paid much lower than their counterparts working for other airlines.

The airline has assured that the passengers will be given a refund but hasn’t specified when. Meanwhile, the passengers whose flights were cancelled are worried about their refund, with some even tweeting about it and requesting the intervention of J Scindia, minister of aviation.

Kaushik Khona, chief executive officer, Go First, informed employees, via a message, of the financial crisis that the airline is facing. He also indicated that the faulty engines supplied by Pratt & Whitney were to be blamed primarily. Almost half of the airline’s fleet is grounded owing to engine issues. Despite orders from the emergency arbitrator, Pratt & Whitney failed to supply the serviceable and spare leased engines to ensure uninterrupted services of Go First, which led to grounding of so many planes. Therefore, Go First had no other option but to file for voluntary insolvency.

Khona, however, assured the employees in his message that the airline is trying its level best to deal with the situation keeping in mind the best interest of the staff and stakeholders, and that necessary action will be taken to preserve the airline’s operations.